Final Fantasy: The Programmer
by Stave Leonheart
Summary: All the characters in Final Fantasy 7-9 are about to be thrown together against the strongest threat yet. Can they handle the fight and will they be able to get back to thier original worlds?


[AUTHOR'S NOTE: If I mess up the names I am sorry because I named them differently when I played. Be sure to pay attention when it says setting because at the beginning I am starting in the real world, like where you and I live where FF7-9 are just games. I also warn you that I am a hopeless romantic and love the couple of Zidane and Dagger. Other than that just Read and Enjoy (R/E). ANY reviews are appreciated even if you want to flame me. Well if you do then how sad for me because I spent two weeks just on this part. If I use the 'quotes' then it is character thought if I use the "quotes" then it is speech.]  
  
  
  
  
Setting: Our world year 2001, only it is an alternate world. You will see.  
  
Chris Sanson walked slowly from the college. He had just managed to get his   
Bachelor's Degree in Rune Magic. He walked, his long smooth brown hair flowing   
down his back in a ponytail, towards the sidewalk where he would have room to   
set up his Runes. When he got to the curb he opened the black and red Rune   
pouch and pulled out some round spherical Runes. They each had different   
symbols on them in red letters. He took one that said GI on it and another that   
said CHI on it. He set them in mid-air where they floated solidly. As he   
pulled out more Runes (more CHI, GI and KAME runes) he smiled lightly. A   
transportation spell such as this was an easy task and he needed a good   
challenge for the summer. He hoped that he might be able to find one.  
  
Finally he had set up his Runes in a logical pattern and he said,   
"Translatator." There was a swirl and a flash of light as he stepped through a   
gate that appeared. When he managed to get himself through the slightly too   
small gate he saw his house on the other side. It was not anywhere near as he   
had left it.   
  
In the center of the room was a huge pattern of Runes on the floor. They were   
set in a barrier pattern. Chris looked at the pattern, his deep hazel eyes   
taking in every formation of them. It seemed to be one of the strongest   
barriers he had ever seen. On the inside there were CDs swirling. They seemed   
to be magically enhanced playstation CDs. It was an odd sight to see; the   
playstation CDs swirling in the center on a thick dome of inch wide spheres.  
  
Chris looked to the side to see a note. He picked it up and read it:  
  
Chris,  
  
Here is my latest challenge. I have made this one so hard that you won't be   
able to beat it. I have given the games AI and have begun to merge their   
worlds. The different antagonists inside the games have been informed about the   
changes and will be ready to strike. The challenge is to destroy the shield,   
which can only be done from the inside of the game. You must enter the games   
and as they combine counter the moves of the villains. Only once they are all   
gone can you beat the mission and destroy the defense grid that surround the   
CDs. Oh yes, there will be no safety protocols. Good luck.  
  
Jair  
  
Chris grinned. Any challenge from Jair was great to take up, as he was one of   
the strongest Rune mage friends Chris had. They were constantly trading back   
and fourth challenges. They ranged from games to books to crosses between them   
all. Inside each of them they would join the characters and help them along a   
greater challenge than the game would ever provide for them. The only thing   
that made him frown was the fact of no safety protocols. With this he could   
actually die. Chris shrugged well he would need to be careful all he wanted was   
this challenge to take up his time. All he would have to do is call his   
girlfriend so she could control the outside stuff from the outside. When   
someone was on the outside then they can change the environment slightly. They   
could also find out side information on the program such as where the enemy was   
or how to navigate this maze. If he ever needed to find out some good   
information on the subject of whatever games these were then he could ask   
Courtney.  
  
**************  
Setting: Gaia two years after Zidane (supposedly) died.  
  
Garnet sat at her window looking quietly and regally out into the night. She   
was blocking out all of the feeling she had for Zidane. All she could do was   
try to go on and to pick up the pieces that he left behind.  
  
"I can't believe that he could do this to me. He has to be out there, he just   
has to."  
  
"You need to move on." Said a voice from behind her.  
  
Garnet turned to see Beatrix. "I just can't Beatrix. I love him, and I never   
told him. He said that he would be back, he will, won't he?"  
  
Garnet had lost all signs of being Garnet. She was now Dagger, the one that had   
fallen in love with Zidane, the one that could not let go. Beatrix sighed and   
said; "He wouldn't want you to be like this would he?"  
  
Dagger was silent. She hurt so much inside, just like every night. 'Why me?'   
she would say to herself, and then she wouldn't talk for the rest of the night.  
  
Beatrix sighed and said, knowing that it would hurt Dagger but it was the right   
thing to do, "Garnet Til Alexandros, keep yourself together! The kingdom needs   
a queen!"  
  
Dagger stiffened, then straightened up and fixed her slightly tasseled hair.   
She looked at Beatrix slightly regally and said, "I," she hesitated thinking of   
Zidane and his warm smile, "I will be the queen Alexandria needs."  
  
Beatrix put on a smile but on the inside she felt really bad, she had just most   
likely shut off any hope Dagger had left the Zidane might come. She hoped it   
had been the right thing to do as she left.  
  
Any trace of the girl known as Dagger left Garnet as she went to bed, to have   
worse nightmares than before.  
**************  
  
It was about two weeks later when the play "I Want to be Your Canary" was to be   
shown. Garnet felt a twang of pain as she saw Beatrix resting her head on   
Steiner's shoulder. Both of them had not noticed her come up behind them. She   
felt so much that all she might want would be to have someone who she could   
love... Zidane... She shut the memory of him off and turned her attention back   
to Beatrix and Steiner. She tapped Beatrix who stood up and smiled at her.  
  
"You're up early,"  
  
Steiner suddenly woke up, as he had been asleep there while on duty. He jumped   
up in surprise.  
  
"Uh, Your Highness, I was just, I mean," he started.  
  
Garnet, for the first time in a while, laughed. "It is okay Steiner, you have   
never been known to fall asleep on duty before."  
  
Steiner for his part thought that his behavior was totally unacceptable and   
proceeded to go double time through all of his duties. Beatrix, who came out of   
the communications tower with a wide grin, stopped him halfway through them.  
  
"Steiner!" She came over to him and whispered to him making sure that Garnet   
was no where to be seen. "It's Zidane. He is alive. He is coming for the play   
and will reveal himself in the middle of it. We are supposed to know so we can   
surprise Garnet."  
  
Steiner smiled, something that was rarely seen on his face. "So the rascal   
survived. This is great."  
  
"Don't you dare tell Garnet!"  
  
"I won't!" said Steiner quickly, as Beatrix mad was not a pretty sight.  
  
"Good," she said kissing him lightly and heading out to finish her patrol.  
**************  
  
Vivi had gotten the letter telling him that he needed to be at Alexandria for   
the coming of Zidane. It had informed him that Zidane had survived and would be   
at Alexandria to surprise Dagger. Vivi smiled. He would need to bring his   
kids.  
**************  
  
Freya and Sir Frately had just gotten a call on the communications line they had   
just set up in their tower. The call was to tell them that if they wanted to go   
to Alexandria then they could go see Zidane and also get together with everyone   
else. Freya was just amazingly pleased that Zidane was alive and would be happy   
to come.  
**************  
  
Amarant thought for a second. Should he go see Zidane again? He had helped him   
realize what friendship and kindness were but, was it worth it? He decided that   
if nothing else but to get to see the look of shock on Garnets face he would go.  
**************  
  
Regent Cid got the transmission that day that he should be in Alexandria to see   
Zidane and to get to talk with all of the others. He was told that Eiko would   
be welcome as well as his wife. He smiled and decided not to tell Eiko that   
Zidane would be there.  
**************  
  
Quina had spent a lot of her time traveling the world searching for good foods   
to eat when she stumbled upon a town that had a post on a sign. It read:  
  
Quina Quen,  
  
It would be most appreciated if you could make it to Alexandria by the 8th.   
Please be there early to cook a great meal.  
  
Zidane  
  
Quina was shocked but happy. He/she headed off to Alexandria to make the best   
meal he/she could.  
**************  
  
Garnet smiled as she got into her top box to see the play. All of her good   
friends were down at the bottom ready to watch the show. Well not all of her   
good friends, one was still missing. She sighed, pushing Zidane out of her   
mind. She needed to stay composed, especially in public.  
  
The play began just as she remembered it. The only difference she could see was   
that Marcus was in a black robe instead of his normal attire. It was odd but   
she didn't care. It was taking all of her effort to stay composed; this was the   
play that was on when she first met Zidane. Garnet could barely stop from   
crying.  
  
She saw the actor that played Marcus turning towards the scene of the two moons.   
He bend down as if unfastening his cloak and spun around tearing it off to   
reveal the fact that it was... Zidane.  
  
Garnet about had a heart attack. Could it really be him? She looked down upon   
the scene trying to get a better look then turned to run to the doors. There   
she saw her two faithful knights Steiner and Beatrix. They opened the doors for   
her and gave her a smile. Then it hit her. THEY KNEW ZIDANE WAS ALIVE! She   
ran down the stairs and burst through the doors, just barely giving the guards   
time to scramble out of the way.  
  
Garnet shot through the crowd pushing people out of the way. People were   
looking nastily at her until they realized that she was the queen. That gave   
many of them a shock.  
  
As Garnet pulled her way through the crowd her jewel was torn from her neck.   
She gripped at the place it once was and stared at it for a second. Then   
suddenly the image of Zidane's smile entered her head and she ran to him   
throwing off her crown and becoming Dagger the one who loved him.  
  
Dagger threw herself into Zidane's arms so fast that he had no time to react.   
He stumbled back slightly but managed to catch her. She hugged him tight and   
thought that she might never let go. As she did this she realized that he must   
have been alive all these years and didn't just now appear. He had stayed away   
from her. She hit him in the chest wanting to let out all of her anger but he   
held her closer to calm her.  
  
People all around were clapping and Eiko was in a state of shock. Zidane?   
Alive? She then smiled at the two lovebirds before her and clapped with the   
rest of them.  
  
"How did you survive?"  
  
"I had no choice, I had to live, I wanted to come home to you. I sang your   
song,"  
  
"Our song"  
  
Dagger smiled at the man she loved and then they locked into a passionate kiss   
that they both though should never end.  
**************  
  
Once they had finally, hand in hand, gotten through the crowd Zidane and Dagger   
joined the rest of the crew including Beatrix and Regent Cid.  
  
"Zidane, it is good to see you," Steiner started.  
  
Zidane smirked lightly and said, "Ah yea Rusty, I missed you too."  
  
Steiner chuckled and put his arm around Beatrix's shoulder.  
  
"Zidane!!! Why did you leave?" Eiko demanded to know.  
  
Zidane blushed and sat down with everyone. "Well when I got out of the Lifa   
Tree I thought about it. Does Dagger actually love me? She had never said that   
she did and I always seemed to annoy her."  
  
Dagger started to protest but Zidane stopped her. "I knew that she had a   
kingdom to run and having me show up would be a serious tag on her ability to do   
that."  
  
"It was a serious tag to have you gone!"  
  
Zidane winced and went on, "I didn't want to talk with any of you guys because   
you all would want to go see Dagger and I knew that it was all I could to   
convince myself that I should stay away but if another tried to convince me to   
come I would break. So I stayed away and watched Dagger run her kingdom from   
rooftops and that sort of thing. Finally when one night I heard her singing.   
It was the song... the one we share except it had the words to it. I knew then,   
from the words, that she did love me and I began to set up this surprise for   
her."  
  
"What are the words?" Eiko asked.  
  
"I don't want to say them it would make them ...not as special." Dagger said   
cutting Zidane off.  
  
They spent a while catching up on old times. Zidane had been staying all over   
just traveling the world feeling miserable that he was not around Dagger. She   
had been staying in Alexandria working hard on rebuilding and trying to find out   
if Zidane was still alive. Vivi had been taking care of his children, who   
happened to be under the care of his wife. He had gotten married while everyone   
was gone and not told anyone. Most people were upset at this and the question   
came up of why he would marry at such an early age. He told everyone that it   
was not early for black mages and it was common to get married earlier as he had   
found out. Freya had found Sir Frately who was now deeply in love with Freya   
and they were rebuilding Bermecia [bad spelling I know]. Quina had been   
traveling the world and wondered why no one was off to dinner at the great food   
that he/she had prepared.  
  
At this comment they all left to eat and discuss what the rest of them had been   
doing. At the table Eiko had said the she had moved in with Cid and now was   
their adopted daughter. She had taken all of the moogles there who now lived in   
a bliss of good food and nice beds. Eiko was always sending notes in between   
them. Amarant said, after they had finished, that he had been fighting hard to   
learn new techniques and that he had mostly been training. Steiner and Beatrix   
both made accounts of what they had done and of a vacation they had gone on   
together. Finally Dagger remembered that at least Steiner and Beatrix had   
already known that Zidane was alive.  
  
"STEINER, BEATRIX YOU KNEW DIDN'T YOU!?"  
  
"Knew what Garnet?" Beatrix said mildly.  
  
"THAT ZIDANE WAS ALIVE!"  
  
"Naturally," she said as if it meant nothing, "We all knew. All but Eiko from   
what I saw. Zidane contacted us all and told us that he was coming and that it   
was a surprise for you."  
  
"YOU KNEW!?" Eiko said incredulously.  
  
"Yes, Eiko" Cid responded.  
  
Cid had been tackled and Steiner had easily held off the queen's weight from   
tackling him. Everyone laughed.  
  
Eventually when everyone but Zidane and Dagger had gone to bed they were alone.  
  
"Would you like to go out to my airship for a ride?" Dagger asked.  
  
"Sure," replied Zidane  
  
They headed up to the port and lifted off in a miniature airship. It had just   
enough room to fit both of them sitting down. They flew up into the air and   
just sat, enjoying being close to one another.  
  
"Dagger..."  
  
"Yes, Zidane?" she replied dreamily.  
  
"I just wanted you to know... how much I missed you... It felt like every part   
of me was being ripped into pieces and that there was no way to stop it. I want   
you to know... that I love you."  
  
Dagger let the tears flow from her eyes as she embraced Zidane. "That is what I   
have waited to hear... for two years... just that."  
  
They laid down next to each other for a while when Dagger said, "You know...?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"I suppose that I never really did believe that you had died. I felt so bad   
that I had never told you that I loved you... I thought that the world was   
ending. It was never far from my thought... to kill myself... the only reason I   
kept going was for my kingdom. Without that, I would have died. And Zidane..."  
  
Zidane listened intently.  
  
"I love you too."  
  
They lay there just alive with the simple pleasure of the other being there when   
Zidane spoke, "Would you sing for me... our song...?"  
  
Dagger smiled and lifted her voice into the song that she had never forgotten   
even since her childhood.  
  
Alone for a while I've been searching through the dark,  
For traces of the love you left inside my lonely heart,  
To weave by picking up the pieces that remain,  
Melodies of life, love's lost refrain.  
  
Our Paths, they did cross though I cannot say just why,  
We met, we laughed, we held on fast and then we said good-bye,  
And who'll hear the echoes of stories never told,  
Let them ring out loud till they unfold.  
  
In my dearest memories, I see you reaching out to me,  
Though you're gone, I still believe you can call out my name.  
  
A voice from the past joining yours and mine,  
Adding up the layers of harmony,  
And so it goes on and on, Melodies of life,  
To the sky beyond the flying birds-forever and beyond  
  
So far and away, see the bird as it flies by,  
Gliding through the shadows of the clouds up in the sky,  
I've laid my memories and dreams upon those wings,  
Let them now and see what tomorrow brings.  
  
In your dearest memories, do you remember loving me,  
Was it fate, that brought us close and now leaves me behind.  
  
A voice from the past joining yours and mine,  
Adding up the layers of harmony,  
And so it goes on and on, Melodies of life,  
To the sky beyond the flying birds-forever and beyond  
  
And if I should leave this lonely world behind,  
Your voice will still remember our melody,  
Now I know we'll carry on, Melodies of life,  
Come circle round deep within our hearts,  
As long as we remember.  
  
At the end of the song silence followed. Zidane was soaking in her words.   
After a minuet he turned to her and kissed her. She smiled as he wrapped his   
tail around her. She felt is warm comfort around her and realized that this was   
somewhat of a sacrifice for Zidane. Genombes [I can't spell it] never want   
people to touch their tails. Dagger, slowly, reached down giving Zidane plenty   
of time to say no and began to stroke his warm fur. He tensed up at first but   
then relaxed into her gentle touch. She smiled at him and they fell asleep like   
that with her hand resting on his tail, a symbol of ultimate trust in and of   
that Genombe's tails are their most sensitive spot and pulling his tail would   
disable him in pain.  
**************  
  
When Zidane woke up the next morning he saw Dagger sleeping in front of him.   
Not wanting to wake her he just laid there until she woke up. Finally she did   
and they looked out over the side of the mini airship. They were above the   
black mage's village, where the wind currents had taken them.  
  
"You know that feeling you get when you are so happy that you don't know what to   
say?" Zidane asked.  
  
"Yea..."  
  
"That's how I feel right now. I don't even know what to say because I am so   
happy"  
  
Dagger kissed him and they began to float the airship all over enjoying the   
scenery. Eventually they were coming back to the castle when they saw a   
mountain that was glittering and shimmering. It seemed to be on fire with white   
flames. They landed the ship near the mountain and got out to check it out.  
  
When Zidane approached it he began to see things differently and suddenly cam into view to see...  
**************  
  
Setting: Balmb Garden, Zell' room just after the party for the SeeDs.  
  
'Squall certainly has changed a lot' thought Zell. 'We see him smile all the   
time now and even makes attempts at jokes.'  
  
Zell smiled at the thought of Squall's jokes. Some of the jokes tended to make   
you want to puke but Rinoa laughed at all of them.  
  
'Squall did spend a lot of time with Rinoa tonight...'  
**************  
  
Squall and Rinoa had just made it to one of the beaches near Balamb. The moon was shining brightly on a seemingly perfect evening though Squall's eyes were not on the beautiful scenery. His eyes were on the woman that he loved. He looked down at her thinking at how lucky he was. He had found the only woman in the world that would be able to penetrate his hard exterior and make him feel loved. He saw the reflection of the moon in her eyes as his angel turned to look at him. They kissed and just sat there for the rest of the night next to eachother just enjoying the feel of the other next to them.  
**************  
  
About two weeks later Squall was searching through the halls of the garden for Rinoa. He had the ring in his pocket that he was going to propose to her with. She was no where to be seen though. He had been searching for about thirty minuets now and was starting to get exasperated when Zell walked up.  
  
"Hey Squall, didn't you say that you knew how to repair gloves?"  
  
"Yes I did but-" Squall started as Zell cut him off.  
  
"Good then could you fix these?"  
  
Squall sighed and pulled the gloves from Zell's hands. He took them back to his room where he had some tools. The glove appeared to be ripped along the side. Judging by the cut it was a T-Rexor's claw that had done it [Can't spell T-Rexor]. Squall quickly repaired the cut and handed the gloves back to Zell. When Zell had gone with a "thanks" Squall saw Rinoa walking down the hall. He began to jog to get up to her Quistis intercepted him.  
  
"Squall, Cid wants to see these reports all finished and on his desk in the next hour. Luckily the workload isn't heavy today eh?"  
  
Squall wasn't paying much attention as he was handed the papers. He was just looking after her to see where Rinoa had gone. She was gone and he had no clue where.  
  
"Squall?"  
  
"Uh yea Quistis I'll have them done," said Squall trying to mask his annoyance.  
  
Squall went back and completed the reports in about fifteen minuets. He headed up to Cid's office and handed in the reports. Cid smiled and dismissed him, as Squall always did excellent work and there was no need to check the quality of it. Squall walked out to run head into Irvine.  
  
"Hey Squall, could you help me?"  
  
"Not now," Squall said but Irvine didn't seem to notice.  
  
"You see, I was told that I needed to make a speech at this party I am attending with saving the world and all, I was wondering if you could help me write it."  
  
Squall gritted his teeth and left with Irvine to help him. Irvine had after all done Squall many favors. After helping writing the speech he saw Selphie and walked up to her.  
  
"Selphie have you seen Rinoa?"  
  
"Oh yea, girl, blue dress, pretty, your girlfriend you know her."  
  
Squall gave a look that could kill.  
  
"YES! I've seen her. She went shopping and will be back at five."  
  
Squall glanced down at his watch: 3:00 PM. Squall sighed.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Well..."  
  
Squall pulled out the ring box and showed it to her. Selphie gasped and said, "That's great! The only thing you need now is to have a romantic dinner with her and then ask her."  
  
"I don't think that I really-"  
  
Selphie was already gone, no doubt to begin preparations for the "romantic dinner." Squall groaned and followed Selphie.  
  
Selphie managed to put together a cruise on a yacht for them, just the two of them. It was one of the old fashioned small ones but it was beautiful. Squall actually thought that this might be a better idea than just walking up and proposing but he wouldn't admit that to Selphie as he had been complaining the whole way through.  
  
When Rinoa got back Squall took her hand and led her off to the side.  
  
"Rinoa, would you like to go out to someplace special just the two of us?"  
  
Rinoa smiled and said, "Have I ever said no?"  
  
"Well I felt it inappropriate to just walk up and say 'Come with me! Now'"  
  
"Well I suppose I would have come anyway though."  
  
"True," replied Squall.  
  
"Just let me get changed."  
  
Rinoa left to go get changed and Squall waited around the entrance for her. When she finally got back out (20 minuets) Squall looked exasperated. She grinned evilly at him and took his hand.  
  
"So where are we going to today?"  
  
"You will see."  
  
They headed out in a rental car and when they go to Balamb Rinoa was amazed to see the yacht in the harbor.  
  
"We get to go on that?" Rinoa asked, her eyes sparkling.  
  
"Yes, do you like it?"  
  
Rinoa's response was a kiss.  
**************  
  
Squall put on a chef's hat as he went onto the kitchen to start preparing the food that he and Rinoa would eat. After he had put the roast into the oven and started to bake rolls in another one he went out to join Rinoa.  
  
Rinoa was at the wheel steering the ship. She made it turn deep out into the ocean as Squall approached. He put his arms around her and kissed her lightly. He felt such love around her and he just wanted so badly to make her happy.  
  
Rinoa smiled as Squall came up behind her and kissed her. She felt such strong love around him that the only thing she ever could worry about is if he was happy. She turned and returned the kiss to the lips which continued a while.  
  
After about 20 minuets with Rinoa he realized that he smelled something burning. He had left the rolls in to long! He sprinted into the kitchen to savage his food. It was all that he had packed for the little outing and he wanted to preserve it. As he pulled the flaming pan out of the oven that used to contain rolls he sighed. This was not going as he had planed.  
  
Squall pulled out some carrots, which he washed and cut. When he washing one of them it went down the disposal and he had to fish it out. When it came out he saw black gunk all over it. He shoved it back down the disposal. Down a carrot... As he went on to thoroughly butcher the carrots in cutting them the roast began to get near burning. Squall had not noticed that he had put it at near double the correct heat. The roast was expanding larger than the oven and was pushing open the door.  
**************  
  
Rinoa saw smoke coming out of the kitchen and she laughed. Squall had insisted that this time he cook for her as she had always done the cooking before. Though that was sweet of him he was thoroughly botching it.  
**************  
  
About twenty minuets later Squall had a VERY burnt roast some butchered carrots and watery soup. He was annoyed mostly by the fact though that Rinoa that the whole thing was hilariously funny. When she saw that he was frustrated though she stopped laughing and kissed him lightly.  
  
"Well at least we still have champagne..." Said Rinoa.  
  
Squall was fighting to get it open for some reason it wouldn't open. Finally the cork shot of spraying him in the face. At this Rinoa lost it. She laughed and laughed like a silvery cascade of water. Though this time Squall laughed with her. His whole night was night going at all as he had planned it. As he ate his burnt food Rinoa, not wanting to eat the food but not willing to tell Squall, suggested that they go outside to enjoy the peaceful night.  
  
The night was peaceful... for about 2 minuets. It was as if the heavens were set against Squall. It hurt him so much to love her and not know if she really did love him. It was a downpour. The rain was coming down in sheets. They scrambled back inside and coughed at some smoke. Squall had forgotten to turn off the oven.  
  
"Next time, cough, I, cough, cook."  
  
Squall just nodded as he opened a window to filter out the smoke. Rinoa sat next to Squall as they shivered in cold. Suddenly they heard a snap from the lower deck. They headed down to the freezing lower deck to see a small leak had sprung and it was widening.  
  
The scramble to cover the leak was in vain. In a matter of minuets the boat was halfway underwater.  
  
"Did you bring a GF?" Rinoa shouted through the wind.  
  
"No," Squall answered back.  
  
They jumped off and began to swim. As they went on and on both were starting to tire. It seemed that they had been swimming for days when finally they reached the shore. Light was just beginning to peak over the hills as they flopped out onto the sand.  
  
"That was not at all as I had planned the evening."  
  
"Oh really, I thought it went just great" Rinoa responded.  
  
Squall smiled slightly as he made sure that he still had the ring. It was still in his pocket. He pulled out the box and walked over closer to Rinoa. Rinoa was wringing out her hair and trying to straighten her clothes as she saw Squall get down on one knee.  
  
"I have an important question to ask and that was why I wanted to go on the trip. I wanted to ask you Rinoa Heartilly, will you marry me?"  
  
Rinoa's eyes blurred out of focus as she looked down on Squall. All she could see of the ring was that it had gold because she could barely see. Squalls words echoed in her mind. Marry me, marry me, marry me.  
  
"Yes!" she managed to choke out through a constricted throat, "Of course I will."  
  
Squall slipped the ring onto her finger, stood up, and kissed her deeply.  
**************  
When Squall and Rinoa got back to the garden, both soaked, they found that the entire place was hustling about. People were running all over the place and bumping into eachother. Squall was seriously reminded of the time when the gardenmaster had tried to take over.  
  
Squall walked up to someone and stopped him, "What is going on here?"  
  
"Esthar is being attacked, and Cid has called for all the SeeDs he could get to go help."  
  
Squall blanched thinking of Laguna and ran to Cid's office with Rinoa close behind him.  
**************  
  
Irvine thought that it was a horrible awakening. He had finally managed to get to sleep the night before at 4:00 AM. He had had trouble sleeping and then in the morning, 7:00 AM, Selphie awakened him:  
  
"WAKE UP!!"  
  
He had fallen out of bed at this and hit his head on the floor. He had to suppress a nasty word as Selphie hated it when he cursed.  
  
"Esthar is being attacked and Cid has called for the organization of all SeeDs."  
  
Finally Irvine had managed to get up in a sadly uncharming way and put on his hat. Selphie was tapping her foot impatiently and finally he managed to get out the door with her.  
**************  
  
Quistis had needed to run through the halls. Zell was one of the deepest sleepers but they needed him up NOW. She finally got to his dorm and knocked on the door... She got no response... She knocked again even though she knew it was futile. Once there was no answer again she tried to open the door and it was locked. At this she smiled. She had always been irritated slightly at Zell's sleeping in. Now she could really surprise him. She began to charge a Thundga through the door.  
**************  
  
Zell felt a little static wake him as he saw his entire room was starting to fill with little zaps of electricity. He realized that this was a Thundga about to strike his room.  
  
"Oh, Shit."  
  
He jumped behind the bed as his door was plowed down. Quistis stepped through and luckily today Zell had worn some pants to bed.  
  
"We have to go report to Cid Esthar is being attacked and they are requesting assistance."  
  
Zell jumped up to get dressed.  
**************  
  
Rinoa was having a hard time keeping up with Squall. He had much longer legs than hers and was much faster. As he jogged through the halls she was running to keep up. When finally they got to the elevator she stumbled in and squatted down huffing and puffing.  
  
"Why ^huff puff^ do you ^huff puff^ have to be so ^huff puff^ darn fast?"  
  
Squall just stepped off the elevator and began to jog; slower though so Rinoa could keep up.  
**************  
  
"The Ragnorok must be taken, head down to Esthar and help them. Selphie, how many can fit inside the Ragnorok?"  
  
"About 150 sir."  
  
"Not enough... Squeeze in 200 and go."  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
Selphie and all of the other SeeDs turned to go. As they were leaving Squall and Rinoa stumbled in. Quistis motioned for them to come with the crowd and they headed down to the Ragnorok.  
  
"Quisty, what are we planning?" Squall asked her.  
  
"We are just headed to Esthar. You see when they called all they had time to say was just that they needed SeeD support and fast. We are going to get there first with just two-hundred SeeDs and the garden will come with the rest."  
  
Squall nodded and turned to Rinoa, "Will you please stay on the garden? I don't want to put you in dan- I mean you could probably help lead the people here."  
  
Rinoa smiled inwardly. She knew that any battle would not be much of a problem for her because she had been developing her sorceress powers. It would take half the Galbadian army to take her out but she looked at Squall's pleading face and gave in, "Sure Squall I could probably help her more than I could out in battle."  
  
Squall smiled at her, kissed her, and left to fly out.  
**************  
  
Rinoa, after Squall had left, headed up to the control tower she needed to help in any way she could here. When she got to the top headmaster Cid was currently rattling off orders.  
  
"Make sure that the support and healing magic divisions are fully equipped. We need to be ready for the fight. It will take us about 3 hours to get there so make sure that they are ready then. For now let them get some rest."  
  
"Uh, Cid," Rinoa started, "Where do you need me?"  
  
"Well for now just get ready for the fight, get changed, eat something, and maybe even help raise the moral of the magic users we have here."  
  
Rinoa just realized that she was still in soaking clothes. She smiled at Cid and said that she would report back in about two and a half hours. She walked down to her dormitory and got into the shower.  
**************  
  
Squall got on the Ragnorok as crowded as it was. People were taking up every single space on it and none could sit down. All of them were crowded and Squall had to push through them. Finally he made his way up to the cockpit and stood next to his friends, Selphie, Irvine, Zell, and Quistis.  
  
"How long will this ride take?" Irvine was asking.  
  
Irvine was actually sitting in Selphie's lap, which she seemed rather annoyed by. She pushed him off, and into several bystanders, and answered that the whole flight would only be about 20 minuets. The entire flight was filled with Irvine hitting on Selphie, badly, and her attempts to concentrate on flying. Squall was felling thoroughly annoyed by the time he got off the flight to see that Esthar looked fine. He walked into the city and headed straight for an elevator. When he made his way to the presidential office he walked straight into Laguna's office.  
  
"Where is the Galbadian army?"  
  
"Galbadian? I assume that they would be in... Galbadia... why?" Responded Laguna.  
  
Suddenly it hit Squall he had just run away from the place he was needed.  
  
"GO FAST!!! TO THE GARDEN WE'VE BEEN HAD!!!"  
  
They all ran to the Ragnorok and took off with only about half the SeeDs.  
**************  
  
Rinoa had just gotten her hair brushed and put together as she walked out to hear, "All units to battle stations we are under attack. Repeat, all units to battle stations."  
  
Rinoa looked down the hall to see Galbadian soldiers pouring in.  
**************  
  
Squall was mentally beating himself. How could he have done this? He had left Rinoa there to possibly be... What if when he came she wasn't alive...? How could he live with himself?  
  
"Faster Selphie, we need to get there VERY quickly."  
  
When they finally came within visual range of the garden they saw it smoking. It had a large hole in the top where it looked like it had been blown apart.   
**************  
  
Rinoa was standing at the center of that hole using all of the force that she could muster. All of her magics just weren't enough. These weren't just Galbadian soldiers; they had magically enforced armor and could resist the greater part of her blows. She was on her last leg of energy and wasn't going to hold out much longer.  
  
'Where are you Squall?' She began to collapse.  
**************  
  
Just as the Ragnorok was landing they saw a strange sight. A mountian with white fire on it was appearing out of no where.  
  
'What are you doing Rinoa?' thought Squall as he watched a man with a tail and a young woman step down from the mountain with mystified looks on their faces.  
**************  
  
Setting: Highwind, as the lifestream is converging on the meteor  
  
Cloud watched as the lifestream swirled towards the meteor. It was incredible to watch such power go right under them. The Highwind was rattling from the force of it going under them.  
  
"I don't know if she'll hold." Cid started but was cut off from a snap in the lower decks. The Highwind was beginning to break apart. This, though, was the least of what was on Cloud's mind. He was watching the lifestream slam into the meteor. Suddenly there was a blinding flash of light and for just a second he saw her. It was Aries. He felt a pang of loss at the sight of her when suddenly he was thrust back to the view of the Highwind hurtling towards the ground.  
  
"OHHH SHHHIIITT!!!" Shouted Cid as they began to really speed up.  
  
Cid was working furiously at some rocket controls. He was attempting to make them face up so it would slow the decent.  
  
"Got it!" Shouted Cid as he managed to get the engines to face up. The Highwind began to finally slow down. As they landed all of them were suddenly filled with giddy laughter. They had just gone from danger to danger and managed to do it. They beat sephiroth, they made it out of the northern crater, they defeated the meteor (or at least watched it happen...), and they managed to land the Highwind in one piece.  
  
Finally when they had all stopped laughing and congratulating each other they went to work on fixing the broken parts of the Highwind. Collectively this took about and hour and a half until the Highwind was airborne.  
  
"So where we headed?" Asked the excited Cid.  
  
"Why don't we head to Gold Saucer to celebrate?" Suggested Tifa.  
  
They agreed and headed out to Gold Saucer all feeling like they were on top of the world. As they got to the lift Red asked, "Did you guys see her, I mean Aries?"  
  
"Yea," answered Tifa.  
  
"I did too." Cloud answered.  
  
"Same here." Said Barret.  
  
They all agreed.  
  
"Do you think it was her prayer that did it?" Asked Yuffie.  
  
"Yea," said Cloud with a tone some sadness in it. Just that tone of voice was almost enough to make Tifa break down and cry.  
  
'He really does love her... could he ever love me like that... will I always be second to Aries?' thought Tifa.  
  
They all got on the train with little or no talking. They all just wanted to break the mood of sadness but none of them knew how. When finally they got to Gold Saucer Barret broke the silence by saying, "Yo, Aries wouldn't want us to be walking around feeling sorry for her would she?"  
  
They all agreed and tried to figure out where they would go.  
  
"Maybe we should go see a play feature..." Suggested Cait Sith.  
  
"Or maybe go on a roller coaster?" Sugested Yuffie.  
  
"I say that we should go to the battle arena." Said Vincent in a way that made it sound final. So they all headed out to the battle arena. When they got to the battle arena Vincent went and got very bad luck with his handicaps. When he got out from the second to last battle he looked very disgruntled. He had not even made it to the last battle.  
  
Next to try was Barret and he made it all the way to the last battle. When he was fighting the ghost ship he accidentally missed it and got slammed down by it.  
  
"Damn, we should have just put Sephiroth in there and he would have died."  
  
Cloud smirked and said, "I could handle that easily you are just weak."  
  
"Wanna bet spike butt?"  
  
"Sure. How much?"  
  
"10,000 Gil."  
  
"Alright then."  
  
Cloud went in and fought through the battles eventually getting himself handicapped down to no materia use at all and no items. At the end battle he was fighting Proud Clod and he wasn't doing very well. Eventually he hit a limit break and tore it to pieces with the attack that had taken Sephiroth out, omnishash.  
  
When he got out, breathing hard, Barret gave him his money, looking disgusted, and left mumbling about peoples high headed views. Tifa decided not o try but the others gave it a shot. None of them but Cloud managed to do it which made him have a nice large smirk. It was wiped off his face by Red who said that Cloud looked like a clown that was on drugs when he smiled like that.  
  
This gave everyone a laugh; that is except for Cloud who utterly failed to see the humor in it. When they got back to the opening area Tifa walked over to Cloud and said while the others were off looking for something to do, "Cloud, would you like to, I mean," at this point she was blushing furiously but she went on, "Would you like to go out on the tour of Gold Saucer with me?"  
  
Cloud smiled inwardly at Tifa's attempt. Not wanting to upset her he said, "Sure Tifa."  
  
Tifa smiled as they wen tot the cupola to get a ride. When they got on it Cloud smiled, it was much like the date he had had with her not too long ago. She sat right next to him just trying to get her courage up.  
  
"Cloud?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Can I ask you a question, a sort of personal question...?"  
  
"You can ask me anything Tifa."  
  
"Umm... did you, did you love Aries?"  
  
Cloud suddenly looked troubled. He himself had tried to figure out an answer to such a tough question.  
  
"Tifa... well-" Cloud was interrupted by a loud crash. Tifa and Cloud looked out the window and saw a WEAPON. It was the Ruby WEAPON.  
  
"Oh, Shit."  
  
They both waited for the ride to finish in silence and then got out to go fight the WEAPON.  
**************  
  
Barret was in the middle of a Chocobo ride when one of the red arms of the Ruby WEAPON came slamming down in front of him. This caused him to slam into the arm and get a large bump on his head. He looked up to see a hole in the roof of Gold Saucer and the Ruby WEAPON looming above.  
**************  
  
Vincent felt his presence come back. It was Sephiroth. He had used his influence over the Ruby WEAPON to make it come here and something had brought Sephiroth back to life. With this news in his head he watched as the entire Ruby WEAPON glowed with white flames and began to fade away.  
**************  
  
Setting: Our alternate world...  
  
Chris walked up to Courtney's door and knocked. The short pretty girl answered the door her blonde hair flowing to her shoulders. When she saw Chris she gave him a short kiss and asked him what was up.  
  
"I need a programmer."  
  
"You got another challenge?"  
  
"Yup, this ones from Jair."  
  
"What game is it on?"  
  
"Uh, I forgot to check..."  
  
"You turkey. Let's go back and look."  
  
Courtney grabbed her runes and headed out the door arm and arm with Chris.  
**************  
  
When they got to Chris' apartment they checked the CDs.  
  
"Final Fantasy, looks like 7-9. I suppose I'll need walkthroughs for them," she said as she dialed out on Chris' magically power computer. In about two minuets she had full walkthroughs for each game printed out.  
  
"Have you beaten each one?" She asked.  
  
"Yea, I know how each one goes."  
  
"Good then get inside the game and start helping them," she said as she hooked up the computer to the barrier. On the screen of the computer many program modules came up. She had the ability to hack into certain parts of the system and maybe make new materia or cure wounds and about anything she wanted to do. Hence the reason why Chris needed her there.  
  
Chris began to take out his black runes that read LA, CHI, GI, MAR, and ZO. He put them in an amazingly complex pattern. When he was finished a portal appeared.  
  
"I'm headed to FF8 first okay?"  
  
"Got it," responded Courtney as she began to read the FF8 section of the walkthrough.  
  
Chris stepped through the shimmering barrier unaware of what he was about to face on the other side.  
  
[AUTHOR'S NOTE: If I ever put she for Quina I'm sorry I have always considered   
him/her a her. I'd say PLEASE R/R this took me a long time to make and ^I^ at least am proud of it even if you don't like it. Maybe if I get like ten reviews then I will continue. I have a lot of action and drama in store for this story so keep looking for the next part. Oh yes, please forgive any grammar errors I am only 14.]  
  



End file.
